Liad Charnoff had her doubts when UPMC Sports Medicine Concussion Program experts told her they could help her with her lingering concussion symptoms.
At that point, Liad had suffered from debilitating symptoms for two and a half years. UPMC’s experts told her their approach could make a difference in a few months.
“I was like, ‘OK, sure,'” says Liad, 29, of Israel. “I did not believe them.”
Her skepticism soon faded.
The treatment program focused on exertion instead of rest. After strictly following the regimen her team gave her, Liad found herself steadily improving.
Within a few months, her symptoms had faded, and she was enjoying a much fuller life.
She describes the treatment as “life-changing.”
“I’m 10 times happier,” Liad says. “I’m just enjoying life so much more.”
A Devastating Concussion
Originally from New Jersey, Liad had experienced several concussions growing up. She was an avid athlete who played soccer and other sports. She says she suffered her first concussion in third grade.
“Every couple of years, I would get a concussion,” she says. “It would take a couple of weeks or a month, and it would just pass, and you just keep going.”
But in February 2023, Liad suffered another concussion while playing soccer. Because of her previous concussion history, she didn’t see a doctor immediately. But when her initial symptoms didn’t fade after a week, she went to the hospital.
Her doctor told her to rest, and the symptoms would pass — but they didn’t. And as the symptoms continued, she visited more doctors who all told her similar things.
“Every time I went to a doctor or a neurologist, they would say the same thing to me: ‘It’ll pass.’ And it wasn’t,” Liad says. “For about nine to 10 months, I was unable to function as a business owner. That was really hard. Let alone not being able to be active because all the doctors told me, ‘Just rest.’”
She visited numerous specialists. One suggested she was having seizures, and another recommended hyperbaric oxygen therapy. She traveled to a specialist in the United Arab Emirates and received treatment that helped her with whiplash, but not her other symptoms.
Her many symptoms included dizziness, balance problems, headaches, and memory issues. She was sleeping much of the day, and she struggled with depression and other mental health symptoms.
Liad had met and married her husband during this time period. She couldn’t do activities with him or her stepdaughters.
“It was like a little bit of an identity crisis,” she says. “You already feel trapped in your body. And then on top of that, everyone around you is telling you the same thing: ‘You can’t do anything, you can’t do anything.’
“And you also feel like you can’t do anything. Like, I wasn’t working at full capacity. It causes a serious depression. I couldn’t enjoy things in my life because I wasn’t doing the things that I loved.”
Coming to UPMC
When her concussion originally occurred, one of Liad’s friends recommended that she contact the UPMC Sports Medicine Concussion Program. Her friend had sought treatment at UPMC after he suffered a concussion in military service.
Liad looked into the UPMC program but decided not to schedule an appointment because the next appointment was months away.
“I’ll be better by then,” she remembers thinking.
By the time 2025 came around, she decided it was time to visit UPMC.
“It’s hard to say this, but it’s true — it’s like it was out of desperation,” she says. “I missed living my life. I had never ridden my bike with my stepdaughters or gone for a run.
“And we knew that we wanted to add more members to the family, and I was just like, ‘I can’t. I’m not at full capacity. How could I add to this situation?’”
Liad came to UPMC in August 2025. Right away, she noticed major differences from her previous concussion care.
She met with Michael “Micky” Collins, PhD, the clinical and executive director of the UPMC Sports Medicine Concussion Program. She also met with several members of the concussion team, including a vestibular therapist, exertion therapist, and psychiatrist.
Every member of the treatment team asked about her mental health symptoms. This was a stark difference from other specialists she’d visited.
“They were able to very much pinpoint my symptoms and the things that I was feeling,” Liad says.
Another major difference was UPMC’s approach to concussion. Every prior specialist she visited told her she needed to rest and her symptoms would pass. UPMC’s team told her the opposite: She needed to exert herself.
“They were like, ‘You’re going to push yourself now. We’re going to trigger all your symptoms. And if you vomit, you vomit. You’re just going to keep going,’” Liad recalls.
“And it was just that tough attitude that I was so excited about because that’s the athlete in me,” she says. “I was like, ‘Yes, I want to push myself like I’m going to get better.’”
UPMC’s team also told Liad she would be able to play soccer again, which was one of her goals.
Slow, Steady Improvement
Liad says she still felt skeptical that UPMC’s approach would work when she returned home to Israel. Still, she made sure she followed her treatment plan as closely as possible.
“I was like, ‘Listen, if you’re going to try something, go full force,’” she says.
“And I did. I really stuck by their regimen pretty strictly. And it takes a lot of time in your day, like two to three hours a day. But it was worth it.”
The treatment plan that the UPMC team gave Liad included a mix of cardio and balance exercises. She also had to stop napping and return to working full days.
“The first month was really hard for me,” she says. “I was lying on the floor in pain. But my husband very much knew, ‘You’re not supposed to ask what she’s doing — this is the part of the process.’
“It was horrible, but so worth it because I did feel myself getting stronger with time. The exercises didn’t necessarily get easier, but I was just able to do them, and I got faster at them.”
Liad says she kept in touch with her care team remotely throughout the process as her symptoms gradually improved.
A personal breakthrough came when Liad realized she wanted to wear a watch.
“I felt myself wanting to know what time it was,” she says. “I wanted a watch, which I hadn’t worn in two years because time was so not relevant to me. I was exhausted all the time. I was sleeping during the day and sleeping at night.
“I realized, ‘I’m actually more focused. I’m more aware of what’s going on.’ And I started wearing a watch because of it, because I was just part of the world more.”
A Life Restored
After seeking care at UPMC, Liad’s symptoms have passed. She can now participate in more activities with her husband and stepdaughters, which she couldn’t do previously.
“It’s really exciting for me that I get to be a part of things each time that we do something outside and we’re active together, whether we’re playing soccer, or bike riding, or swimming,” Liad says. “They saw a very different me for a very long time, and now I get to enjoy life.”
As she felt her symptoms improving, Liad learned some big personal news: She’s pregnant.
“The other day I was going for an ultrasound, and I said to one of my stepdaughters, ‘I’m going to the doctor,'” she says. “They’re like, ‘Oh, for your head?’ And I said, ‘No, I’m going for something else.’
“They were just so used to it, that was my personality.”
Liad is thankful for the UPMC Sports Medicine Concussion Program for helping her get back to what she loves doing. She says that while the exertion approach “isn’t for the faint of heart,” she’s glad it helped her.
“Everyone there was super supportive and super understanding,” she says. “It’s more and more validating throughout the day, like, ‘Oh my God, finally someone hears me and sees me.'”